One constant source of surprise and amusement as you grow older is having an encounter with figures from your past - for example, finding that a friend from school still works in the local Tesco, that so-and-so’s baby is now eight years old or that the lad across the road ended up a drag queen. Becoming attached to certain figures that define a period of your life is something that we perhaps do unintentionally, yet giving in to nostalgia and tracking the progress of your idols can be pretty interesting. I wasn’t quite a teen when Brit-pop made an impact on my life – ten years on, where are they now? The outcome is not always predictable. Whilst some go on to front fictional animated bands, others still swagger along red carpets, becoming a parody of their former selves. Some, though, go on to forge remarkable solo careers. Suede’s Brett Anderson is the latest in a line of re-inventions; his last single ‘Love Is Dead’ set out to extend his body of extremely credible work, daring us to even try to forget him…
Welcome back Brett! Describe the feel of your new solo work.
Angsty punk, that's how I'd describe it.
Your sound seems to have moved beyond Brit-pop and Indie, why this change of direction?
Well, you don't want to keep making the same record over and over again, do you? There's a big musical world out there and it's an attempt to try and feel around it. I don't have the same influences I've always had. I wanted to make a record that wasn't an Indie guitar rock record, I wanted to make a record that was coming from a different direction. I've made my version of whatever I've made, and it's more based around strings and stuff. I'm not particularly aiming at a different audience - I've never really thought about my audience actually, it’s quite a cynical way of making music. That's not my job - I leave that down to my record company.
You've written the album mainly on your own, do you prefer working like this?
I didn't actually write it all on my own, I worked quite a lot with a guy named Fred Ball, a mate of mine who's a keyboard player. But the responsibility was mine because it was my record. Yeah, I enjoyed working like that. It's a different way of working instead of having the democracy of being in a band. It's interesting, a challenge, and I'd recommend to anyone who's bored with being in the confines of a band to give it a shot.
How long has it taken?
I started writing it in 2004, but I was almost writing it as a side project, part time. I was doing stuff with The Tears and my solo record on my days off. It just kind of developed from there, really. I haven't been working on it solidly since 2004 but that’s when it was born.
Did you take hiatus from The Tears to work on your solo project?
The Tears has nothing to do with it. I just started working on the solo project and wanted people to hear it, it doesn't really relate to The Tears at all. The Tears is a separate thing. We might make another Tears record, we might not, who knows? I don't know actually. I honestly don't have a plan, it's not like I have a big plan set up for anything. There's nothing set up for Tears 2009.
Your last single is 'Love is Dead'. The name hints at it being quite dark, what is it about?
It is about feelings of loneliness, from pain to despair. It is about being a human being and experiencing that feeling of having no love, which everyone experiences at some point in their life. This is just a documentation of it. The solo album is more personal, inevitably, because it is just mine. There's less difference, you can get closer to the personality with a solo album. It's Brett Anderson, it's not Suede. I've written it quite personally and tried to write quite confessionally.
What's your favourite lyric that you've written?
I like some lyrics in Colour of the Night. It is a very delicate, strange song. And I like the lyrics to Love Is Dead, as well. There's something quite universal about them. It said exactly what I wanted to say at that time.
Does it annoy you that your lyrics get picked apart quite a lot?
Well, people are quite lazy in the way that they talk about them. I often use words more than once in my songs, people assume that's a weakness but it's not. It's like an artist using a certain colour or having a certain style, or a musician playing an A minor chord. It's not like you play an A minor chord once and then avoid it for the rest of your career. It's just a matter of developing a palette and developing a feel. I think I get picked apart because I polarize people’s opinions. That's what it's like to be me as an artist - an all or nothing kind of view, some extreme opinions, but that's the way it goes. I quite like that. People have strong opinions about me, some people love me, some people hate me, it's one of those things you have to accept about yourself, it's like having the feet you're born with. Unless I go and get plastic surgery on my feet then I'll probably die with the same pair. The way people take the kind of music I make, the kind of emotions I inspire in people are either positive or negative and that's what I always do in life, no matter where I go artistically.
Things have obviously changed quite a lot for you since Suede, but what are the biggest lessons you've learned?
Technical things about how to do stuff, production things. How best to record songs, how to not use too many effects on your vocals, about how to not over arrange things. Sometimes less is more with music - that is a really important lesson to learn. Sometimes the most powerful music is the most simple and the most spectral, the most minimalistic music.
Has being sober changed your music?
I'm not sober all the time! Just sort of, more sober than I used to be. I don't know, maybe? It is more controlled, but I don't know if that is a good thing.
Do you still listen to any of the old Suede tracks?
Yeah, sometimes. I have an iPod, I sometimes put it on shuffle and when an old Suede song comes on it is quite exciting in the context of other music and when you're not expecting them. I'm quite proud of the stuff I've done in the past. I don't have a problem with it. As a body of work I'm proud of it. You can't make records for 15 years for there not to be points where you're not into it. You don't have to love every second of it, it would be strange if you did. But there are moments of it that I like, yeah.
Suede were one of the biggest bands in the British music scene in the 90s. How is it for you looking at new artists coming to the fore? What are your opinions on them?
The alternative music scene hasn't evolved, really. It's quite odd. Looking at the big picture, that's the only thing I'm really surprised about, is that the basic format of what is cool music is exactly the same format as when Suede first started in 1992. It's about alternative, guitar based music. There hasn't been a revelation in music, a punk dance revolution that has changed the face of music. And in a funny sort of way that is very conservative. There should be a new wave of hungry musicians that want to laugh at the past, but there hasn't been. I like some bands around, people like Arcade Fire, Interpol, Bat for Lashes, The Shins. There is some good music out there.
There's talk of a second solo record already, what direction do you see it taking?
Very band orientated, that's the only thing I can safely say at the moment. I'd be wrong to say it was going to be an industrial skiffle record, 'cause it probably won't be by the time we've made it and gone through the various meandering paths it takes to make a record, it becomes very different to how it started. But generally more band orientated, I'd say.
Words: Charlotte Dunckley